July 22, 2020
Together Remotely – Kids & Animals
Now more than ever, it is important that we stay connected to one another. The Student Life Staff Development Committee has launched Together Remotely, a series of posts to help staff across the Division of Student Life keep up with each other and share their experiences, successes, and stories during these extraordinary times. We hope that these posts can in some way brighten your day, give you a great idea, or just help you to feel a little more connected.
Content is staff-generated, informal, and open-ended… and we need more! To submit your own content, please visit the content submission form and respond to any of the areas that interest you, or email Nathan Miglich.
Kids & Animals
THE PROMPT: Stories, adventures, and other content related to your tiny
or non-human companions.
Ashlee Norris
Operations and Accounts Manager, Housing & Food Services – Student Services
During this time my five year old has learned to ride their bike with no training wheels, has been practicing sight reading, and has taken on roller skating. They also have more Zoom calls with their preschool friends than me some days.
Deanne Liu
Conduct Officer, Community Standards & Student Conduct
I have two mini dachshunds: Oscar (age 15) and Rolo (age 5). They are so different, but they are also such good companions to each other. I love watching them cuddle these days. No lie: I’m a little jealous, honestly!
Glenna Chang
Associate Vice President, Student Life
Let’s just agree not to apologize for a small person interrupting a Zoom call, shall we? Also, we have rediscovered the joy of a backyard campfire.
Jannah Maresh
Director, Parent & Family Programs
I am childless and dogless — but my husband is like a large adult child.
He walks me some days. I walk him other days — we are good human doggies for each other.
We’ve been enjoying my daily walks, where we talk about our fun day at work. We are both working from home so we are grateful to have the ability to have defined work spaces and only see and interact with each other during coffee breaks.
UPDATE: So it took a pandemic to add to our family — We wanted to announce a new member– Sambal Oelek Dacanay Maresh. First of His Name, the UnBothered, King of the Pawndals and the First Pitweenies, Kahless of the Great Grass Pee, Breaker of Hearts, and Son of Dacanay Mareshes.
He is a little over 4 months old. Born in Houston, Texas, and migrated north to Seattle with love and help from the 3 Little Pitties Rescue Folks. Sambal has added just the right amount of spice to give full flavor to our family. His arrival has also precipitated a move to the “burbs” or at least the burbs in my definition – we too have migrated north to the Bryant/Ravenna neighborhood as we have lovingly said “see you later” to our CapHill/Central District neighborhood!
Mariam Mead Yaqub
Assistant Director for Student Engagement and Success, Housing and Food Services
– Residential Life
With preschool closed, we’ve had to up our craft game! We’ve had a lot of fun turning items from the recycle bin into a village, complete with critters, a garden, public transportation, and even a castle. I was an art major a long, long time ago, and don’t do creative hobbies as much as I would like now that I’m busy with two kids age 3 and under, so to be honest this has been really fun for me too. Getting the old glue gun out of the closet and putting it to use!
Natasha Hawkins
Program Coordinator – Operations, Housing & Food Services – Residential Life
My furry coworkers are not very technology savvy. One feels the best way to respond to emails is by stepping on the keyboard. The other responds to Zoom calls by hiding under the coffee table. Both have been dropping subtle hints that they would prefer I return to my typical office as soon as possible.
Tera Figueroa
Administrative Specialist, Shared Services
We have a college freshmen doing on-line classes, an 8th grader participating in 4-5 hours a day of Zoom instruction, and two adults working full-time remotely. We’ve had to put Post-It notes everywhere to inform one another when we are in class or in meetings and it’s been quite hilarious at times.
Thanks for reading! Remember, to submit your own content, please visit the content submission form and respond to any of the areas that interest you, or email Nathan Miglich.